ESL FACEIT Group has announced the addition of third-place decider matches within Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) events that form part of the ESL Pro Tour.
The tournament organiser says the decision to add matches follows ‘the continued evolution of the competitive landscape’ and updates to the Valve Regional Standings (VRS).
As a result, events such as ESL Pro League Season 22, IEM Chengdu and IEM Kraków 2026 will include a best-of-three match to determine which team secures third place.
Starting from Pro League, all future tier one and wildcard tournaments will see a third-place match take place before the Grand Final on Sunday.
However, the addition of third-place matches has resulted in showmatches at ESL Pro League, IEM Chengdu, and IEM Kraków no longer taking place.
“With the continued evolution of the competitive landscape and teams vying for points towards their Valve Regional Standings, which now subsequently will fully decide their fate for the next Counter-Strike Major invites, we’re today adding third-place decider matches,” stated ESL FACEIT Group in a release.
The decision to add a third-place match is a result of Valve scrapping MRQs (Major Regional Qualifiers) for the StarLadder Budapest Major, among other notable changes.
Instead of the qualifiers, the Valve Regional Standings (VRS) will be solely used to determine the 32 teams that qualify for Counter-Strike’s biggest event.
ESL Counter-Strike in 2025
ESL FACEIT Group remains one of the biggest Counter-Strike tournament organisers in the world, hosting large-scale events across the world.
In recent months, its DreamHack event brand has launched an open CS2 competition, where aspiring pros can earn qualification for the ESL Pro League.
The organiser is already planning its 2026 tournament calendar. In June, it announced that Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) will head to Brazil, China, and the United States. The trio of events will join Kraków, Poland, which replaces Katowice from next year.
